Girls Have Germs
by pixienightingale
Summary: Even though Jay and Ved are technologically inclines, what if the reason they took solace in technology was not because it was the most attractive offer, just the least of two evils? *JOINT FIC, NO LONGER BEING WRITTEN*
1. General Hospital

Title: Girls Have Germs

Author: Pixie Princess & Bunny

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2003

  


It had become his favorite virtual space setup lately, Ram noticed. There was just something so... CLEAN ... about a hospital. Never mind the fact that all the adults in it were just images. Besides him, there was one thing that certainly was not imaginary. And her name was Eowyn.

  


Well, that was the name he had given her. He didn't know her real name. Some of the members of the tribe had brought her to him, after they had zapped her a wee bit too much, and he had put her here. She was beautiful, but not in the way Java, Siver, and Ebony were. She had that kind of Sleeping Beauty beauty, silver shadow on her eyes, and the green streak coming from her lash line. Then there was her blonde hair, with littered silver streaks throughout.

  


She had been waking up again recently. And that worried Ram. once she awoke, she would want to go, and he could not have that. So he had been sedating her in the real world. Eventually, he would allow her to awaken, and hopefully she would choose to show him proper gratitude for taking care of her. Maybe not.

  


But, he could hope for it. Ram was in traditional before time doctor uniform, and stood by her bed. Something about her was so familiar, yet ... he couldn't place his finger on it.


	2. Duty Calls

Title: Girls Have Germs

Author: Pixie Princess & Bunny

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2003

_Yes, I made the choice.  
For Papa I will stay.  
But, I don't deserve   
to loose my freedom   
in this way.  
You monster.  
If you think that   
what you've done is right,  
well, then, you're a fool.  
Think again._  
  
Eowyn stirred again, still stuck in the depths of some surreal nightmare, not sure what was real and what wasn't.  
  
"Was there really a virus?" she mumbled.  
  
Ram stumbled back, stunned. She had never actually spoken before... Things could possibly be about to change...  
  
_Is this home?  
Is this where I should roam  
to be happy?  
Never dreamed that a home  
could be dark and cold.  
I was told,   
every day in my childhood,  
even when I grew old,  
home will be where the heart is.  
Never were words so true.  
My heart's far, far away.  
Home is too._  
  
Clark Kent kicked slightly at a rock, staring at the sky. All of this... he'd been basically alone for the most part since the blasted virus came. His superhuman vitality or whatever you want to call it kept him alive...   
  
Alive to watch his mother, father, and three best friends die right before his eyes. He just thanked heaven he still had Emma...   
  
If he hadn't had his baby sister to care for, he might have gone crazy these past two years. He looked at her sleeping on the dead wheat-grass and something akin to smile crossed his face as he brushed his knuckles over her pale cheek.  
  
Even with his powers to survive... he was going to have to find something else... soon... Or they wouldn't last much longer...  
  
_Is this home?  
Is this what I must  
learn to believe in?  
Try to find,  
something good in  
this tragic place.  
Just incase, I should stay  
here forever, held in this empty space.  
Oh, but that won't be easy,  
I know the reason why.  
My heart's far, far away.  
Home's a lie._  
  
Trudy looked at Lex as she brushed Brady's blonde curls into a high ponytail in the back. "Are you all right?" she asked.  
  
"Do I bloody look all right?!" he snapped. "Tai-San may have been a bitch, but, she was my wife, and... KC..." he said, sounding slightly lost and forelorn.  
  
Trudy bit her lip, kissing the top of Brady's head reflexively. She knew exactly what Lex was going through, but, using that line to try and comfort him she knew would be a mistake.  
  
"What... what about you?" he asked, sounding almost... broken. "You having Amber and her brat to care for, as well as your daughter..."  
  
"I don't mind; Amber's my best friend, and, Little Bray and Brady are cousins." she shrugged. "I just wish..."  
  
"You miss Bray." he said knowingly. "I won't tell." he whispered. "It's just like I miss Zan..." he said, slipping off the chair onto the floor.  
  
Trudy knelt next to him impulsively and he buried his head into her chest, allowing her to bury her face into his hair, shushing him as she rubbed his back soothingly...  
  
_What I'd give,  
to return to the life  
that I knew lately.  
But, I know, that I can't  
solve my problems going back._  
  
Ram looked at "his delicate little creature" as he'd dubbed her, relaxing as she seemed to relax and fall back into a fitful sleep. He was torn— should he keep her in this state, or should he allow her to come out of things naturally?  
  
Suddenly, he got a buzz from Ved on his watch...  
  
_Is this home?  
Am I here for a day   
or forever?  
Shut away from the world   
until who knows when.  
Oh, but, then,  
as my life has been altered once,  
it can change again.  
Build higher walls around me,  
change every lock and key.  
Nothing lasts.  
Nothing holds all of me.  
My heart's far,  
far away.  
Home and free..._


	3. Back to Reality

Title: Girls Have Germs

Author: Pixie Princess & Bunny

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2003

_THE SUN KISSES THE WINDOW SILL AND I AM STILL  
ON MY SECOND CUP OF PITY ME  
IT'S BEEN A LONG NIGHT OF CHASING GHOSTS BUT AT THE MOST  
IT'S BEEN A RUDE AWAKENING  
THAT ALL TOO LATE I FINALLY SEE  
THAT IT'S  
  
MY LOSS, MY LONELY  
MY MISTAKE, MINE ONLY  
MINE ALL, MINE ALL MINE  
AND IT'S MY BAD, MY BROKEN  
ALL MY SHOULD HAVE'S LEFT UNSPOKEN  
MINE ALL, MINE ALL MINE  
_  
Clark carried Emma into the mall on his back, smiling when he saw Mouse heading down the main staircase with her older brother, Charlie. He let Emma climb off his back and run forward to play with her friend. Then he began to look around with his powers, checking for things like Techno devices and traces of the Chosen.  
  
"Clark?"  
  
He turned around at the sound, and smiled. It was Ellie, whom he remembered from the middle school. He'd known her older sister Alice when the virus hit, but when he'd returned to their farm, it had been abandoned. "Hey, Ellie."  
  
_I DROVE YOU TO THE EDGE OF THE MAP AND AFTER THAT  
I PUSHED YOU OFF JUST TO WATCH YOU FALL  
YOU NEVER WERE THE BOUNCE BACK KIND  
BUT BOY THIS TIME YOU'VE PROVEN ME WRONG AFTER ALL  
NOW I'M THE ONE WHO'S GONNA CRAWL  
CAUSE IT'S  
  
MY LOSS, MY LONELY  
MY MISTAKE, MINE ONLY  
MINE ALL, MINE ALL MINE  
AND IT'S MY BAD, MY BROKEN  
ALL MY SHOULD HAVE'S LEFT UNSPOKEN  
MINE ALL, MINE ALL MINE  
_  
"What is it, Ved?"  
  
He knew he sounded harsh, but he had given them all specific orders not to bother him. Not in this program of virtual space. And now, his special sanction with Eowyn was being disturbed. Ram was not gonig to be a pleasant person to be around when he got back to the real world.  
  
"Lord Ram, there has been talk of someone looking for the antidote to the virus. He came from the country, where the big red head was originally from."  
  
"I'll be there in a moment."  
  
Cutting off the connection with Ved, Ram looked back at Eowyn. It was settled. He'd wake her up the next time that he visited virtual space, and explain everything. He could only hope she didn't hate him. "Good bye for now, Eowyn..."  
  
_ALWAYS THOUGHT I'D GET TO SORRY  
BUT THE CHANCE HAS COME AND GONE  
SO IF IT FINDS IT IT'S WAY BACK IN  
I'LL HOLD ON HOLD ON HOLD ON  
MY LOSS, MY LONELY  
MY MISTAKE, MINE ONLY  
MINE ALL, MINE ALL, MINE ALL MINE_


	4. Plans

Title: Girls Have Germs

Author: Pixie Princess & Bunny

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2003

"How's Alice?" Clark asked, trying to make pleasant conversation.   
  
He frowned slightly as her features shut down at his question.  
  
"Alice... she... the Tenchos..." Ellie sniffled, ending in a choking, strangled sob.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry..." Clark said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder.   
  
"They kidnapped a lot of our tribe." Ellie explained, wiping her nose on her sleeve.  
  
"Which Tribe?"  
  
"Mall Rats. Which tribe did you end up in, Clark?"  
  
"None." Clark admitted quietly. "I didn't trust anyone enough, and, honestly, I had to take care of Emma first and foremost."  
  
"Oh... well, then, would you two like to come to the mall?" she asked softly.   
  
"For a bit, I suppose we could..." Clark said carefully. "Em, come on, Tinkerbell!" he called, using their mother's special nickname for her.  
  
Emma waved to Mouse and raced over to Clark.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Come on; we're gonna sleep in a mall tonight, OK?"  
  
~*~  
  
Lex got up from Trudy, feeling embarrassed.  
  
"Lex... it's ok... I know how you love him; he's your brother."  
  
Lex nodded, looking away.  
  
"Trud... don't... don't say anything?"  
  
"Not a syllable." she promised.  
  
"Well... there's got to be a way to get to them... to save them..."   
  
"Bait."  
  
"What?"  
  
Trudy swallowed hard.  
  
"Maybe they'd be distracted by-"  
  
"No. I will NOT put you at that kind of risk; you've got a babe to think about?" he reminded. "She needs you."  
  
Trudy nodded, cuddling her daughter close. Brady, at her young age, didn't quite pick up on the tenseness of the moment, merely continuing to play with her dollies on her Mummy's lap...


	5. Virtual vs Reality

Title: Girls Have Germs

Author: Pixie Princess & Bunny

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2003

Ram frowned as he watched the image of Eowyn on the screen into virtual space. She was stirring again. He would have to re-enter very soon to explain and calm her down. The frown remained upon his face as he heard her speak in her sleeping state.  
  
"Jay... Ved..."  
  
There it was again. While he yearned to awaken her and ask her how she knew his general and genius brother, Ram did not want to take the chance that she was indeed, as he suspected, an old girlfriend. It hurt him to think so, and hurt made him angry. After a few instructions, Ram set the settings for him to entire Eowyn's world, and put his virtual space helmet on.  
  
He hurried down the hall in virtual space, as his last image of her had been her beginning to pull out monitors. Ram told the virtual space adult doctors, "I'll check on her, please, go back to your work." It was meaningless drivel, but he had programmed them to listen to him. He looked in on her. "So, you've awoken, Eowyn."  
  
She was still working on the sticky circles, seeming to be debating whether to pull slowly or to just tug. Seeming to make a decision, she looked up at him. "That is not my name." She tugged, moving her gaze down again, and he smiled as she said a few words he hadn't heard from anyone since before the evacuation. Rubbing her side, where the sticky thing had been, she continued. "It's Prudence."  
  
"Such an attitude..." Ram had been smirking when he first thought of that, but now is frown faded, and was replaced witha scowl. "...just like my general an his brother, the genius." That made her smile, he saw. "What makes you smile?"  
  
Prudence, since that was her name, Ram figured he might as well think of her with the correct one in mind, kept smiling. "My brothers said that's what drove them completely insane."  
  
"Do you like it here?"  
  
"It isn't real." So she did know that all this wasnt' real. Even so, she had propped herself up into a sitting position and was looking over at him. "At least, I know I am, and you are... nothing else." Now Ram frowned again. "What makes you FROWN?"  
  
"The members of my tribe-" He noticed her face change when he said that, but ignored what she made him feel in reaction, and cleared his throat. "-they tried to secure you for-"  
  
"I remember." Prudence began fiddling with the bedding, he noticed. Having been watching her since they had occupied the hotel, Ram knew she was nervous He didnt' need heart and lung monitors to tell him. "Why am I here?"  
  
"As opposed to the cells occupied by other virts?" When she frowned, it worried Ram. "That's what my tribe calls those who are not so... technologically enclined."  
  
"Still doesnt' answer my question."  
  
Ram sighed. She was certainly strong-willed. The more he talked to her, the more he wondered if she was an old girlfriend of Jay or Ved's. From the before time, maybe. "Because I wanted you safe, and kept under careful surveillance..." He saw the questioning look in the raise of her eyebrows, and decided to answer her before she asked. "I thought you were appealing. And the stuns were not supposed to knock you out like they did."  
  
"So am I sentenced to stay here forever?"  
  
He knew this was going to come. he just hadn't expected her to ask it so soon. "No." The answer was simple. He had her image in the program, and could keep up the facade of her in a coma if he so wished. "If you wish to return to the real world, I'll allow it."  
  
"Good."  
  
"But why would you want to?"  
  
When she got up out of the bed, Ram pressed a few things under his sleeve, and placed her in a outfit of jeans and a spaghetti strap top. He quite enjoyed those. Although puzzled, he saw Prudence wasn't about to give up on explaining. "Because my brothers are out there. Because Pride is out there. Because I need to be in a world that needs positive change and influence."  
  
"Then just reach your hands up towards your head, close your eyes, and take off the helmet."  
  
"Just promise me you'll show me why you come into this world."  
  
"I don't make promises."


	6. Shut It

Title: _Girls Have Germs_  
Author: _Pixie Princess & Bunny_  
Date: _Monday, March 26, 2003___

"You must like your fake world better than the real one." Prudence said, as if she pitied him.  
  
Ram hated pity.  
  
"Wouldn't you?!" he snapped angerily. "Oh, right, you have this psychological need to 'be needed'." he tossed back. "You know, that's not always healthy, either..."  
  
"Shut it! At least I'm doing something USEFUL, instead of playing pretend!"  
  
"This IS useful; it's an escape! This world, incase you hadn't noticed since the virus, darling, frankly sucks."  
  
~*~  
  
Ellie walked into the mall with Clark and Emma to see Lex and Trudy on the floor with Brady.  
  
"Bringing in more strays?" Lex asked, but his tone lacked venom; it was dull, lifeless.  
  
"This is Clark and his sister, Emma. He wants to help us find the others."  
  
"I'll do what I can..." Clark said.  
  
Lex flicked a glance at Emma.  
  
"I have a kid brother, 'round your size." he told her.  
  
"Where is he?" Emma asked, curious.  
  
"Taken. Lost. Over a day now."  
  
"And, you're here?" Clark asked, incredulous.  
  
Lex got up, angry.  
  
"I don't know where he is! I was knocked out by a f***ing tazer---"  
  
"First, watch the mouth in front of my baby sister. Second, you look fine now; you should get off your duff and stop feeling sorry for yourself."


	7. Hello World

Title: _Girls Have Germs_  
Author: _Pixie Princess & Bunny_  
Date: _Wednesday, March 26, 2003_

_Now and forever   
Until time is through   
  
I can't believe it   
I don't know were to start, no baby   
So many questions deep inside my heart   
  
Give me a moment before you go   
There's something you ought to know_  
  
Emma looked at Mouse and Sammy. "Are you SURE it's okay with Pride and Salene?"  
  
"They're off making kissy-face with each other," Mouse replied to her, "we just have to make sure it's all cleaned up before they get back." Then, the little girls looked at Sammy. "Right?"  
  
Sammy smiled. "Of course. Now, I'll keep watch, you guys get the stuff." Then, Sammy walked towards the front of the cafeteria room, leaving Mouse and Emma in the kitchenette.  
  
"Oh well," Emma said to Mouse, "I guess as long as we clean up when we're done."   
  
_Baby now and forever   
Until the time is thought I'll be standing here   
Waiting and never give up my faith in you   
Trying to make it clear   
Without your love I'd be half a man   
Maybe one day you'll understand   
Now and forever   
Until the time is through   
  
I'll be waiting   
  
Now can I tell you, so that you can see   
love has a meaning when you are here with me   
  
Give me a moment before you go   
There's something you ought to know _  
  
"So, what's he look like?" Clark thought that if they were going to look for Lex's brother, he should know what the kid looked like. Except, Lex wasn't answering. "Lex?"  
  
Lex grunted. "I'll know him when I see him, alright?"  
  
"I'm trying to HELP-"  
  
"It wasn't just my brother."  
  
Clark stopped in his tracks, and looked at Lex. That was about as much Lex had ever said to him. "What?"  
  
Lex looked back at him. "They took my wife." He snorted. "She was a new age kinda chick, and kind of... free-spirited." He raised an eyebrow at Clark. "If you know what I mean."  
  
"No details needed." He walked over to Lex, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's get on with finding the members of your tribe." Although Lex began to open his mouth, Clark shook his head. "I won't mention it to anyone."  
  
"Thanks man."  
  
_Baby now and forever   
Until the time is thought I'll be standing here   
Waiting and never give up my faith in you   
Trying to make it clear   
Without your love I'd be half a man   
Maybe one day you'll understand   
Now and forever   
Until the time is through_  
  
"Ahem."  
  
Ram turned his little cart around. He'd told her to go into his bedroom and change, and although he knew she had been about to come out, there had been a knock on his door. It had been Ved, telling him that the specifications he had given him to create a new area in virtual space had been created.  
  
He scanned Prudence's appearance. "Just like one of my own."  
  
"Who was that?"  
  
"Who?" Ram wasn't about to say Ved's name.  
  
"That voice. When you shut the door in my face."  
  
Ram would have cringed were he his former self. This girl could be quite imposing when she wanted to be. "That was my virtual space administrator of sorts. He created your post-virus world for me."  
  
"Don't forget our deal now..."  
  
He'd never said what he was about to tell her. At least, not since the virus had struck. "I promised you, didn't I?"  
  
_There is no one to comfort me   
Here in my cold reality   
I'm searching for words   
What can I say to make you feel_   
  
"Ellie, you mustn't be so depressed," Amber said, jiggling baby Bray on her knee, "Jack will come back to you."  
  
Ellie sniffled again... it was true she hadn't known Amber for very long, but she already felt a great deal of kinship with the girl. "You're sure?"  
  
"Clark wont' give up until he finds Alice, right?" At the nod of an answer she received, Amber smiled. "So then, everything will be all right."  
  
"Thanks Amber." Ellie got up. "I'm going to go formulate a new issue of The Amulet." Then Ellie walked off towards her room, smiling at Trudy as she passed her on her way out.  
  
"What's up with her?" Trudy asked, taking a seat across from her good friend, "She seems so much more... chipper."  
  
"Just some encouraging talk for her. She needs it. We all need it."  
  
_Baby now and forever   
Until the time is though  
Waiting and never give up my faith in you _  
  
"It's..."  
  
Prudence smiled at Ram, who was looking around the frozen image of the Gaien camp. "Not exactly what you imagined, is it?" The shake of Ram's head, albeit in a virtual world, was extremely satisfying to her. "It's what I found after the evacuation."  
  
"You lived in such... dirty conditions..."  
  
"We lived without your precious technology." She shrugged, and held her hand out to Ram. "More?"  
  
Ram looked at her hand for a moment, and prudence knew he was considering how many germs were likely on it. But she smiled when he took it, and looked at her. "No, now we come to my before time."  
  
_Baby now and forever   
Until the time is thought I'll be standing here   
Waiting and never give up my faith in you   
Trying to make it clear_  
  
"It's..."  
  
"Perfect?" Ram frowned when Prudence shook her head. "Then what?"  
  
Prudence turned to him. "It's the past, Ram. It is what used to be." She pressed something inside her right wrist, and they were once again in the Gaien camp. "This is what the world is now."  
  
"Not everywhere."  
  
"It could be."  
  
And for the first time, Ram believed someone when they said that. Her post-virus world was much like what his pre-virus had been, if not for the lack of technology. He pressed the inside of his left wrist, and brought them back to his pre-virus world.  
  
"I believe you."  
  
_Without your love I'd be half a man   
Maybe one day you'll understand   
Now and forever   
I will be here for you   
Until the time is through_


	8. Understanding and Coercing

Title: _Girls Have Germs_  
Author: _Pixie Princess & Bunny_  
Date: _Wednesday, March 26, 2003_

Clark walked into the kitchen to see Sammy, Emma and Mouse all covered in... well, mess...  
  
"Emma..." he sighed, lifting her gingerly.   
  
"We were havin' fun; Mouse and Sam said it was ok..."  
  
"Clean up this mess, you little twerps." Lex snapped, then looked at Clark. "You can take her to the hot-tub store so she can clean up."  
  
Clark's look softened, knowing at least he wasn't yelling at his Em, and carried her off in the direction Lex was pointing...  
  
~*~"Poor Lex..." Trudy sighed.   
  
"You hate Tai-San."  
  
"And, good rittance to her." Trudy admitted. "But... KC's just a little boy..."  
  
Amber nodded. "I know..."  
  
"I worry, because he IS so little... what's happening to all our friends?" she sniffled, laying her head in Amber's lap.  
  
"It's going to be all right, Trudy..." Amber soothed, stroking her hair.  
  
Trudy smiled softly as Brady reached over and patted her cheek. "No cwy, Mumma."  
  
"No, Mumma won't cry..." Trudy sniffled, smiling through her tears at her precious little girl...  
  
~*~  
  
KC looked at his surroundings, skittering back when Ram came in.   
  
"Who are you? What do you want?" he demanded.  
  
"I am here to offer you a proposition, little one." he said, Prudence standing right behind him.  
  
"I don't want anything from you; I wanna go HOME!"  
  
"That's not possible at this juncture." Ram said smoothly, ignoring the frown from Prudence. "Why don't you be honest with me— and yourself— and tell me what you most desire?"   
  
KC fidgited, then softly said, "You can't give it to me."  
  
"I beg to differ; try me."  
  
"I want my brother back, but, your men killed him; I saw!" he sniffled, not knowing that the tazer had only knocked Lex unconscious. "And, my sister-in-law, Zandra. I miss her. And, I wish the virus hadn't come..."   
  
Ram's face took on a light, and Prudence watched him as he ran to the computer, piling information onto a disk. She went to KC and tried to comfort him, but he pulled away, not trusting anyone in this place, not wanting to be touched by anything here...  
  
"All right." Ram said finally, placing a disk into a helmet. "Put this on."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Do it, and you shall have your heart's desire."  
  
"I don't trust you." he said bluntly.  
  
"You don't have to. Just put it on and see for yourself; you'll be sent into your own little Utopia— a world of your own perfections that you will never want to leave."   
  
"That's stupid; you can't do that..." KC scoffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve.  
  
"You'll never know if you don't try." Ram said, still calm.  
  
Prudence watched in skepticism as he put the helmet on and fell onto the bed.  
  
"What did you do to him?!" she demanded.  
  
"He's in a virtual world; he'll be happy there. This is what I do; I am helping people." he explained.  
  
"You're not helping them; you're making them not face what is real." she argued.   
  
"My way is better than what is." he said firmly. "You are trying to deny that he'll be happier this way than the other?"   
  
"Well..." Prudence fidgited, not having a clear answer. Truthfully, she felt that he should be in the "real world", but... she could not deny that he would be safe, and happy... "How is he going to keep alive there?"  
  
"It's easy; my people will take care of his vital needs while he is in there..."


	9. Take Me to Them

Title: _Girls Have Germs_  
Author: _Pixie Princess & Bunny_  
Date: _Wednesday, March 26, 2003_

Somehow, Prudence had encoded the area of virtual space that had been created for her so Ram couldn't enter. She was mad at him. In a way, it made Ram smile, because she was escaping from him the same way he escaped from everything else.  
  
Unfortunately, she was upset with him, and was obviously just as smart as he was, if not as smart as Ved. So she had encrypted getting into her world, and was escaping from him. Still, there was something about her...  
  
"Lord Ram, you asked for us?"  
  
Ram looked up at the doorway, and smirked. "Yes Jay, Ved.... please, come in." Prue's little world would be shattered in a matter of moments.  


~ * ~

  
Lex paced back and forth in front of the bar. Ebony was taking too long. What if she'd been lying when she said she knew someone on the inside? What if she couldn't get him to KC? What if-  
  
"Gee Lex, with all these people here, someone might think you didn't trust me."  
  
He scowled at Ebony. So self-serving and self-righteous. "History has tended to repeat itself with you, Eb." Lex watched Ebony huff and stick her hands on her hips, so he gestured towards Clark. "This is Clark, a friend of Ellie's from the before. You know Jack." He stepped closer to her, and was eventually right in front of Ebony. "So, ready to take me to my brother?"  
  
"We've gotta make it quick. Let's go."  


~ * ~

  
Ram hadn't expected THIS kind of reaction from Jay and Ved. And normally, no one would DARE lift him up out of his chair and to the wall. However, it seemed this thing with Prue was different. Jay and Ved were her brothers - and they were not pleased with him.  
  
"What the hell is she doing in there, Ram?"  
  
Jay seemed to be the most agressive of the two. He WAS the one holding him gainst the wall, whiel Ved was merely jamming a tazer into his side, ready to shock him. Ram felt his air being cut off, and he only managed to choke out, "She's living her life, Jay." That got him to let her down. Rubbing his throat through gloved hands, Ram cleared his throat. "She's upset with me."  
  
"Ram, if you've HURT her..."  
  
On the contrary, Ram thought, she was the one who was hurting him. Althuogh she was escaping, she couldnt' find her brothers, nor her friend. And Ram now knew where both of them were. And it was hurting him.... because he was beginning to think he might love her. That she might be his saving grace.  


~ * ~

  
"Prue, what's wrong?"  
  
Prue turned around and smiled. "Pride..." Yeah, she knew he wasn't real, but she knew him on the inside. She knew all of the Eco tribe on the inside, and missed them all terribly. So, in her writing of the program, she had had Ram's techinal officer program them all in exactly the way she remembered. Even Eagle, who took pride away and likely convinced him to STAY in the city. "...it's good to see you."  
  
"Now Prue..."  
  
She knew what he was gonig to say. That she knew he wasn't real. Stupid her programming them this morning, along with her encryption, to know that they were all just mirror images of real people. "It's him." She sat down next to her virtual Pride, on a log by the lake near where the eco tribe had been to the best recollection of her knowledge. "THat stupid, self-righteous-"  
  
"You're using his technology for exactly why you say he shouldn't. It's hypocritical."  
  
"I don't know where my brothers are, I dont' know where YOU are... Java and Siva won't help me because they DESPISE me..."  
  
"What's the problem, Prue?"  
  
"I won't be able to survive in virtual space. Sure, it would make me happy for a bit, but... it wouldn't last."  
  
"Because you'd know it wasn't real."  
  
"Exactly." Prue frowned. "He doesn't realize that with his nature, which I was able to tell within the first five minutes of waking, Pride..."  
  
"No droning. Get to the point."  
  
"His nature will cause him to become frustrated and likely blow everything up."  
  
Pride, even thuogh he was virtual, gave her that all knowing look. She hated that look. "You care about him." He grabbed her hands, and her eyes teared at how real his hands felt. "Prue, you have to teach him that everyone's views are different. That it doesn't necessarily mean that his is all bad..."  
  
"He's stubborn. He won't listen."  
  
"Then you've been arguing, not reasoning. Not debating. Agressive to counter agressive." He kissed her forehead. She missed that too, but not because she loved Pride like Prue was beginning to suspect she loved Ram, but because he was all she had of someone like a brother. "Now you have to go back."  
  
Prue looked at him, puzzled. When Ramhad been sleeping, she'd also programmed into her characters to alert her when something was occuring in Ram's quarters. he wasn't the only one who could monitor someone's vitals. "Why?"  
  
"Because his heartbeat is irratic."  


~ * ~

  
"Ram, I'm WARNING you..."  
  
"Prue!"  
  
Jay turned around at the sound of Ved's voice scremaing his sister's name - and indeed, there she was. Standing at the door to Ram's quarters, walking in. She looked worried. He looked at Ram, glaring. If he'd hurt her, he'd hurt him like he'd never been hurt before.  
  
"Jay...." And then his sister looked at Ved. "...Ved..." Then Ram. The look on his sister's face was priceless. So full of fire, and hate. "...what's going on here? And why do I have the feeling that I'm going to need to reprimand you?"  
  
As his sister's hands went upon her hips, Jay laughed. And he hadn't laughed in a good while. She was mad, and frustrated, and it looked like she might care about what happened to him. "He couldnt' get into your program, sis."  
  
"Yeah," the excited voice said, and it belonged to Ved this time, "you encrypted it well." Jay watched his little brother grin at Ram. "She taught me all that I know." Then he watched Ved frown. "How do you know Ram?"  
  
Jay saw the familiar smile of his sister's return to her face. She cared about Ram, and if the rumors he had been hearing were true, Ram wanted her for a pawn. Or, at least he had until she had woken up. "He saved my life." Now that shocked him. Ram nodded to both him and Ved, as Prue walked over to him, and looked down at Ram. "And now I have to save his."


	10. Out of Perfection

Title: _Girls Have Germs_  
Author: _Pixie Princess & Bunny_  
Date: _Sunday, April 6, 2003_

"Prue, you can't be serious..." Ved sighed, sounding annoyed.  
  
"I am deadly serious." she said, jutting her chin out defiantly.   
  
"Bro, let's just wait this one out, hmmm? We know she's ok, that's the important thing?" Jay tried.  
  
But, Ved scowled, his head shaking reluctantly...  
  
~*~  
  
Clark and Ebony watched as Lex put on the helmet to join KC's little virtu-verse.   
  
"I don't get why he's bothering."  
  
"Because, he's his big brother." Clark frowned.   
  
"So? The runt is a liability. And, if Lex can't get him out, they could both die."   
  
"They won't." Clark said positively.   
  
"What do you know about it?" Ebony scoffed.  
  
"I have a baby sister around the same age." he admitted. "She's my trouble, and my heart."   
  
Ebony eyed him. "Fine, so, I guess you sympathize with the big mook--- you know, then, that you'd probably be better off kicking her to the roadside, just like Lex would be with the runt?"  
  
~*~  
  
Lex blinked, looking around the virtu-verse, and saw KC sitting with...  
  
"Zan?!"  
  
"Hello, Lex." she said, smiling.   
  
"Zan, you're..." he touched her face, frowning slightly as he saw her shimmer, reminding him harshly she was made only of pixels. "not real..." he finished flatly, sadly.  
  
"I am real here." she said, unphased.   
  
But, Lex turned to KC for the moment. "Are you all right, Kiddo? They didn't hurt you before putting you in here?"  
  
KC shrugged, fidgiting. "Not much..."  
  
"They didn't 'much'?" he repeated, frowning. "Well, I'll check when we get out of here."  
  
"What about Zan?"  
  
Lex sighed heavily.  
  
"As much as I would like to take her with us, squirt, we can't, ok? She's... she's not really Zandra. I'm sorry," he said, looking at her with glistening eyes.  
  
"I know." she nodded. "Would you like to kiss me goodbye?"  
  
Lex nodded.  
  
"Ok, kiss me, and then reach up to take off the helmets at the same time, both of you, ok?"  
  
Lex leant forward to kiss her, and suddenly the image melted away, and KC was lying on one bed, him on another, Ebony and Clark standing over them...


End file.
